A novel natural environment background model for Monte Carlo simulation and its application in the simulation of anticoincidence measurement

The vegetation recovering effect of oily soil after bioremediation was studied and contrasted with the background of natural environment in this paper. The results indicated that the vegetation productivity of oily soil after microbial remediation can be restored to its original level, but is not enough to rely on natural recovery of vegetation. The unit productivity of oily soil only through microbial remediation was obviously lower than natural background, and the biocommunity and its vertical structure were relatively simple. But the unit productivity of oily soil after phytoremediation was nearly similar to the uncontaminated soil.

The vegetation recovering effect of oily soil after bioremediation was studied and contrasted with the background of natural environment in this paper. The results indicated that the vegetation productivity of oily soil after microbial remediation can be restored to its original level, but is not enough to rely on natural recovery of vegetation. The unit productivity of oily soil only through microbial remediation was obviously lower than natural background, and the biocommunity and its vertical structure were relatively simple. But the unit productivity of oily soil after phytoremediation was nearly similar to the uncontaminated soil.

Self-calibration method for LaBr3 coupled with SiPM detector based on internal radiation of 138La

Several pieces of research on the toponym of place names in Indonesia have been carried out but focus on place names on the island of Java. The limited documentation of place names makes the study of toponymy in Sumatra a must. This article aims to map the thematization of place naming on the West Coast of Sumatra Island. The research was conducted in a qualitative descriptive manner with a corpus linguistic approach. Data was collected by means of documentation, interviews, and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed by following work procedures by Miles and Huberman (2013), involving data condensation, data display, verification drawing, and Sudaryat's toponymy categorization (2009). The results showed that the toponym of place names on the West Coast of Sumatra Island reflects the relationship between humans and their natural environment. This relationship is manifested through the thematization of place names, namely: embodiment, social, and culture. The embodiment aspect includes the sub-themes of water background, topographical background, and natural environment background. The social aspects include the sub-themes of residential background, economic activity background, and building background. The cultural aspects include sub-themes of myths, folklore, and legends passed down through oral traditions.

The relationship between the geographic environment and human health has been a long-standing focus of scientific inquiry. Sn as an essential trace element for the human body, play vital roles in individual health and may influence longevity. However, the extent to which the statistical characteristics of population longevity are associated with elemental geochemical background values at a regional scale remains an important question. Based on the geochemical survey data of Yunnan Province and Chinese census data, the article utilizes Arcgis spatial analysis and mathematical statistics to explore the relationship between ω(Sn) and regional longevity level. The results of the study show that: (1) There is a close correlation between ω(Sn) and regional longevity levels. Within Yunnan Province, regions with high ω(Sn) have higher levels of longevity index and Ultra-octogenarian Index. (2) Spearman’s correlation coefficient shows that ω(Sn) is significantly positively (P < 0.01) correlated with both the longevity index and the Ultra-octogenarian Index; Linear regression further reveals that ω(Sn) always has a significant positive influence on the longevity index. For the Ultra-octogenarian Index, although the strength of the influence of ω(Sn) is not as significant as that of the longevity index, its influence on the healthy longevity of the population cannot be ignored. At the county scale in Yunnan Province, there is a significant positive correlation between ω(Sn) and longevity index, which may be related to the exposure of Sn in the natural environmental background into the human body and thus affecting the incidence of cancer, but the biogeochemical cycling mechanism of its association with longevity still needs to be further investigated.

Considering the general typology of landscapes, winery landscapes are a subtype of agricultural landscapes. A winery landscape is an area in which the dominant land use or indigenous vegetation consists of extensive grapevine crops, that is, vineyards and/or areas covered by wild grapevines; where a specific wine culture has evolved, or grapes constitute an important part of the local diet. In this paper, winery landscapes are studied at two levels: typological (as a repeatable, specific type of area with precisely defined characteristic features), and regional (regional areas that are unique and individual). The authors analyze the evolution of winery landscapes over time and describe their natural and historical aspects. A wide range of factors were taken into consideration: historical and political, socio-economic, cultural and religious influences, as well as the natural environmental background. This paper aims to describe the evolution of winery landscapes in Europe and beyond by considering the Mediterranean Basin, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia.

This research aims to find and describe the toponymic aspects of village names in Lingga District, Lingga Regency. The object of this research is the name of the village in Lingga District, Lingga Regency which was obtained from informants. This research method is descriptive using a qualitative approach. The data collection techniques used were observation, recording, noting, interviews, and discourse transfer. The data analysis technique is carried out using recorded data obtained from interviews with informants, roughly transcribed in written language, then the data that has been roughly transcribed is then refined, the results of the refinement are adjusted again to the recording results, after the data transcript is perfected, the words and sentences those which are still unclear are given punctuation and other necessary marks, after the transcript is complete, typing is carried out, after obtaining data from the field, the information is transcribed perfectly, translated into Indonesian, and after the oral information is completed it is transcribed and translated perfectly into written language, analysis is carried out, after which the analysis is adjusted to the problem raised and the theory chosen. The results of data analysis obtained from the toponymy of village names in Lingga District, Lingga Regency, contain several aspects consisting of: Embodying aspects: water background, topographic background, and natural environmental background. Social aspects: social conditions and social status. Cultural Aspects: history.

The distribution of heavy metals and 137Cs in the central part of the Polish maritime zone (Baltic Sea) – the area selected for wind farm acquisition

In situ radiation measurements are commonly used to detect radioactive material in luggage; at border control checkpoints; for in-field monitoring; during the illicit transfer of nuclear material; and at radioactive contamination sites, e.g., the Fukushima nuclear accident site. In considering the high brightness, fast decay time, and good energy resolution of cerium-doped lanthanum bromide [LaBr3(Ce)] scintillation detectors, this work conducted an experimental analysis aimed at evaluating the potential for applying LaBr3(Ce) detectors to in situ artificial radiation measurements. The effect of the intrinsic radiation of the LaBr3(Ce) detector was investigated. In addition, the intrinsic radiation contribution to the background radiation of the region of interest (ROI) under full-energy peaks for several artificial point sources and the minimum detectable activity (MDA) values of a 3 × 3-in. LaBr3(Ce) detector for several artificial radioactive point sources under unshielded (in the natural background) and well-shielded (in a low background chamber) conditions were calculated. The results indicate that the intrinsic radiation has a significant effect on the background radiation of the ROI especially when the full-energy peaks of several artificial point sources are located in the low-energy region or near 789 and 1400 keV. In addition, the MDAs (the measured time is 300 s) of the LaBr3(Ce) detector for 152Eu (121.78 keV), 133Ba (356 keV), 137Cs (661.7 keV), and 60Co (1332.5 keV) were 218.2, 63.6, 61.3, and 59.6 Bq, respectively, under unshielded conditions and 111.4, 39.1, 46.1, and 38.6 Bq, respectively, under well-shielded conditions. The intrinsic radiation also has some effects on the MDA of the LaBr3(Ce) detector, especially in the low-energy region. Thus, the drawback of its intrinsic radiation limits its application to in situ weak artificial radiation measurements, but LaBr3(Ce) detectors have the potential for use in medium- and high-radiation measurements due to the better energy resolution of these detectors than NaI(Tl) detectors.

Owing to increasing risks of terrorism, new detection systems able to reveal hidden radioactive sources in luggage or radiological dispersal devices (“dirty bombs”) are being developed. Due to good spectrometric properties and undemanding operation at room temperature, semiconductor detectors based on CdTe/CdZnTe (CZT) compounds seem to be convenient in these security applications. Therefore, a small CZT detector was selected and tested as a potential spectrometric device. Anticipating location of the detection system in public spaces or social events (e.g., airports, stations, exhibitions or concerts) and possible threats, point sources were assumed at different distances from the CZT detector. In order to test relevant geometries, several sets of Monte Carlo simulations and measurements were prepared. Simulations were performed using the radiation transport code MCNP6.1. A mathematical model of the CZT detector was adopted from the preceding research. Within the simulations, full energy peak (FEP) efficiency calibrations were obtained, as well as background spectra containing natural radionuclides. Using simulated FEP efficiencies and background spectra, minimum detectable activities (MDA) were calculated. Moreover, in order to test the CZT detector in conditions, where persons with residual activities in bodies (e.g., after nuclear treatments) are measured, male and female phantoms with volume radioactive sources homogeneously distributed in organs were used. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations, experiments with the CZT detector and small standard sources were carried out in real conditions. Results obtained from measurements demonstrated good agreement with simulations. The research was supported by the project of the Ministry of the Inferior of the Czech Republic VI20172020104 – The new generation of portal monitors to ensure the security of the population.

The paper comprises geographic characteristics of Pieniny region which is introductory material for field classes at university level. First, localization of the region was depicted and its division into microregions. Next, particular components of natural environment i.e. geological structure, land relief, climatic conditions, water relations, soils, vegetation and fauna were characterized. In the next part, human activity was discussed, against the background of natural environment, which results in development of cultural landscapes. The presented description of Pieniny, in the paper, may be exemplary and auxiliary material for the construction of characteristics of other regions.

The purpose of this paper is to identification the cultural heritage and analysis of its maintenance in Taketomi Island of Okinawa Prefecture. As a result, we found that the cultural heritage which constituted by tangible and intangible heritages are produced against the background of natural environment, history, and a wisdom of sustainable settlement and are the whole of Taketomi Island. After modernization, the traditional environment is changing and the cultural heritage management causes a problem. We made a list of the cultural heritage in order to identify the one. Base upon the verification, we drew the today's problems.

Segmentation is the first and most important part in the development of any machine vision system with specific goals. Segmentation is especially important when the machine vision system works under environmental conditions, which means under natural light with natural backgrounds. In this case, segmentation will face many challenges, including the presence of various natural and artificial objects in the background and the lack of uniformity of light intensity in different parts of the camera's field of view. However, today, we must use different machine vision systems for outdoor use. For this reason, in this study, a segmentation algorithm was proposed for use in environmental conditions without the need for light control and the creation of artificial background using video processing with emphasizing the recognition of apple fruits on trees. Therefore, a video with more than 12 minutes duration containing more than 22,000 frames was studied under natural light and background conditions. Generally, in the proposed segmentation algorithm, five segmentation steps were used. These steps include: 1. Using a suitable color model; 2. Using the appropriate texture feature; 3. Using the intensity transformation method; 4. Using morphological operators; and 5. Using different color thresholds. The results showed that the segmentation algorithm had the total correct detection percentage of 99.013%. The highest sensitivity and specificity of segmentation algorithm were 99.224 and 99.458%, respectively. Finally, the results showed that the processor speed was about 0.825 seconds for segmentation of a frame.

Background/Objectives: Environmental psychology has long investigated how exposure to natural versus urban environments influences cognitive processes, particularly attention. According to Attention Restoration Theory (ART), natural scenes promote involuntary attention and facilitate recovery from mental fatigue. In this study, we used a modified Posner cueing paradigm to assess how natural and urban backgrounds affect both exogenous (involuntary) and endogenous (voluntary) attention. To capture both behavioral and neural responses, the study collected reaction times (RTs) as a measure of task performance, alongside electrophysiological data (event-related potentials, ERPs: P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3) to explore underlying attentional processes. Methods: Participants completed a visuospatial task in which visual cues anticipated the appearance of a target stimulus, while background images depicting either natural or urban environments remained visible throughout. Attention was assessed under both valid (cue correctly predicts target location) and invalid (cue misleads target location) conditions. Results: The overall findings align with the existing literature: RTs were shorter in valid trials compared to invalid ones. No main facilitation effect from natural backgrounds was observed. However, participants showed slower RTs in invalid trials with natural backgrounds, which may support ART by suggesting that attention restoration could lead to slower responses in certain attentional scenarios. Electrophysiological data reinforced these behavioral results, revealing an increased N2 amplitude in the natural background invalid condition. Conclusions: Despite some limitations, this study provides novel insights into human-nature interactions, offering a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between environment and cognition.

The paper is devoted to the estimation of the characteristic limits (statistical criteria) for the detection of small amounts of ionizing radiation by a measuring device under conditions of a natural radioactivity background of the environment: the decision threshold, the detection limit, the minimum detectable activity and the confidence interval. The assessment procedures were carried out in accordance with the national harmonized standard DSTU ISO 11929-3:2009. The threshold for making a decision on the presence of 137Cs and 60Co radionuclides in objects of the external environment and the limit of their detection using a measuring device equipped with plastic scintillators manufactured by the Institute of Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine were estimated. The influence of the energy of the detected radiation, the dimensions of the scintillators and the geometry of the irradiation on the estimation of the characteristic limits were investigated. Keywords: scintillator; decision threshold; detection limit; confidence interval; minimum detectable activity.